Neon Lights in Hong Kong
Neon is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to San Francisco.
霓虹灯之于香港，就像红色电话亭之与伦敦，雾之与旧金山一样。
When night falls, red and blue and other colors cast a hazy glow over a city lit up by
tens of thousands of neon signs.
当夜幕降临时，红色，蓝色和其他颜色的为这座被成千上万的霓虹灯指示牌照亮的城市
蒙上一层雾蒙蒙的微光。
But many of them are going dark, replaced by more practical, but less romantic, LEDs.
但许多霓虹灯正在变暗，取而代之的是更实用但不那么浪漫的LED灯。
Changing building codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintaining those wonderful
old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which are energy efficient, but still carry great cost.
不断变化的建筑规范，不断发展的品味，加上维护这些美妙而老旧的标识的高昂成本，都促使企业
开始会用LED灯，虽然LED灯节省能源，但成本依然很高。
"To me, neon represents memories of the past," says photographer Sharon Blance, whose series
Hong Kong Neon celebrates the city's famous signs.
“对我来说，霓虹灯代表着过去的回忆，”摄影师莎伦布朗斯说，她的《香港霓虹灯》系列
纪念这这座城市著名的指示牌灯箱。
"Looking at the signs now I get a feeling of amazement, mixed with sadness."
“现在看着这些指示牌，我感到既惊讶又悲伤。”
Building a neon sign is an art practiced by professionals trained on the job to mold
glass tubes into decorative shapes and letters.
制作霓虹灯指示牌是一门艺术，是由受过在岗培训的专业人士完成的，
他们把玻璃管塑造成装饰用的形状和字母。
They fill these tubes with gases that glow when electrified.
他们把通电时会发光的气体注入这些玻璃管中。
Neon makes orange, while other gases make yellow or blue.It takes many hours to
craft a single sign.
氖气发橙色光，而其他气体发黄色的或蓝色的光。制作一个指示牌需要花费数小时。
Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and photographed more than 60 signs;
布朗斯在香港待了一个星期，拍摄了60多个指示牌；
22 of them appear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets -
an approach that makes it easy to admire their colors and craftsmanship.
其中22个出现在捕捉照亮孤独街道的指示牌系列摄影中--这种方式让人们很容易
欣赏它们的色彩和工艺。
"I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned quality of neon," says Blance.
“我喜欢霓虹灯的美丽，手工制作且老派的特点，” 布朗斯说。
The signs do nothing more than identify a restaurant, theater, or other business, but
do so in the most striking way possible.
这些指示牌的作用无非是标识一家餐厅，一家剧院或其他商铺，但这却是最可能引人注目的方式。
2018年6月CET4真题
解析：
1、neon:霓虹灯；（化）氖；
例句：Those moments of happiness light up my life, just like neon lights can electrify the night sky.
那些我生命当中开心的时刻，把我的人生点亮了，就像霓虹灯照亮整个夜空一样。
2、cast:投射（光，影子）cast light/a shadow
向···投以（视线，笑容）cast a look/glance/smile
例句：we leaned against each other sitting on the beach as the setting sun cast an orange glow over the sea.
我们靠着彼此做在沙滩上，当落日橘黄色的光投射在大海上。
3、embrace:拥抱；包括；接纳；欣然接受
例句：Upon spotting her sister in the airport, he raced forward to embrace her give her a loving embrace.
在机场看到她的姐姐，就狂奔过去拥抱她。
4、energy-efficient：能效高的，高效能的
5、mold/mould
n.模型；雷；铸模；性格
v.(用模具)浇铸；塑造；陶冶
例句：Their coach moulded them into a very cohesive team.
他们的教练把他们塑造成了一只非常有凝聚力的队伍。
例句：She poured the chocolate into a heart-shaped mould.
她把巧克力放到了心型的模具里。
6、craft:v.尤指用手工，精心制作
例句：My mom used to craft all my sweaters from wool.
妈妈总是手工用羊毛给我织毛衣。
handcrafted:crafted by hand.
作动词-crafted:beautifully crafted;制造出快乐的东西
carefully crafted;精心制作的
作名词：craft:n.持艺（craft）;技艺做出来的东西（crafts）
7、capture:v.拍摄；代表；表现；体现；吸引
capture sth:拍摄到···
例句：Stop moving about. boys, or the only images captured in our camera will be a bunch of hazy shapes.
不要再动了小朋友们，要不然拍出的照片只能是雾蒙蒙的形状了。
8、striking；adj.引人注目的；异乎寻常的；显著的；标致的；
| 单词 | 释意 |
| fog | n.雾；烟雾；尘雾；v.使模糊 |
| replaced by | 用···代替 |
| practical | adj.实际的；实用的；实践的； |
| romantic | adj.浪漫的；传奇的； |
| maintaining | v.保持 |
| embracing | v.接受 |
| energy | n.能量；能源；活力 |
| efficient | adj.效率高的；有能力的； |
| celebrates | v.庆祝；赞扬 |
| amazement | n.惊讶 |
| decorative | adj.装饰的 |
| shapes | n.身段；外形 |
| admire | v.钦佩；崇拜 |
| craftsmanship | n.技能；技术 |
| handcrafted | adj.手工制作的 |
| old-fashioned | adj.老式的；陈旧 |
| quality | adj.优质的，n.特性；质量 |
| striking | adj.吸引人的；显著的 |